Coin-controlled machine



(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet '1. J. A. LIGHTHIPE. COIN CONTROLLED MACHINE.

No. 500,016. Patented June 20, 1893.

(No M de1 3 SheetsSheet 2. J. A. LIGHTHIPE.

00m CONTROLLED MACHINE.

Patented June 20, 1893.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFRICE.

JAMES A. LIGHTHIPE, OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA.

COIN-CONTROLLED MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 500,015, dated June 20,1893.

Application filed February 20, 1893. Serial No. 463.087- (Il'o model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JAMES A. LIGHTHIPE, a citizen of the United States,residing at San Francisco, in the county of San Francisco and State ofCalifornia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inCoin-Controlled- Machines; and I-do hereby declare the following to be afull, clear, and exact description of the invention,"such as will enableothers skilled in the art to which it most nearly appertains to make,use, and practice the same.

This invention relates to a certain new and useful coin controlleddevice, which consists in the arrangement of parts and details ofconstruction as will be'hereinafter more fully set forth in thedrawings, described and pointed out in the specification.

The object of the present invention is to provide a coin controlleddevice whereby by the placing of a piece of money therein, of suitabledenomination, the operator may win two or more pieces therefor; themechanism of which device is so constructed that the winning or losingshall be taken entirely from within the power of the operators control.

Referring to the drawings forming a part of this application, whereinsimilar letters of reference denote corresponding parts th rou ghout theentire specification,-Figure 1, is a rear elevation of the machine withthe back of casing or box removed. Fig. 2, is a front elevation withindicating dial and front of casing or box removed. Fig. 3, similar viewas Fig. 2, but showing position of operating mechanism after the handlehas been pulled its full outward distance and just prior to its beingreleased in order to drop the coin held thereby. Fig. 4,a top plan ofFig. 3,with top of easing or box removed; Fig. 5, a detail top plan ofthe coin dropping mechanism. Fig. 6, is a side elevation of Fig. '5;Fig. 7, an enlarged detail elevation of the coin retaining and releasinglever; Fig. 8, a similar view of the feed regulating rod. Fig. 9, is afront elevation, similar to Fig. 3, showing relative position of theoperating mechanism prior to the raising of the piston within the aircylinder. Fig. 10, is atop plan of Fig. 9, with lock plate or disk andoperating lever removed; and Fig. 111}, is a perspective view of thecomplete mac me.

The letter A, indicates the casing or box of my machine, which may be ofany suitable size or shape,-and A, the front thereof. Through the top ofthe casing, preferably, is cut an opening Within which fits and issecured the coin tube A This tube is made equal in diameter to any pieceof money-desired to pass therethrough, ordinarily a nickel. Within theinterior of the box or casing is fitted the partition plate B, and tothe plate is secured the hereinafter described mechanism.

To the back of the plate B, is secured or attached, through the mediumof guide plates or hangers, a, a,a the slide rod B,the outer end ofwhich ext-ends through an opening formed in the casing and terminates inthe handle B is somewhat larger than the outer, as shown at b, and fromsaid slide rod project the pins or lugs b. The slide rod is held inwardby means of the spring B one end of which is secured to the guide plateor hanger a, while the opposite end is fastened to the face of said rod,as shown, consequently making the slide rod spring-actuated.

Through the openings 0, 0', formed within the plate or hangers a a worksthe plate 0, the rear portion of which is reduced and projects beyondhanger 0, as shown at 0 From this plate projects the pin or lug 0 Thisplate is held in position by means of fiat spring Theinner'portion ofthe slide rod 4 O, which is secured to the partition plate B,

by screw or bolt and projects upward passing in front of pin b and thenbeing bent backward and the upper end bearing against the face of lug orpin 0 Within the side of plate O, is cut an elongated slot (1 and withinthis slot is fitted an elastic metallic lever D, the rear end of whichis secured tothe plate by pin d. The forward end of this lever isprovided with an inwardly and an outwardly projecting inclined shoulderor lug D, D The distance between the face of inclined shoulder D, andthe pins Z), of the slide rod, is equal to the diameter of the coin tobe used in operating the device, and comes directly beneath the tube AThe slide rod and plate 0, run parallel to each other, but are such adistance apart as will permit of a piece of coin passing therebetween.

The bottom of plate C, is provided with an inwardly projecting shoulderor flange b which forms a seat or rest for the coin when dropped fromthe coin tube A between the slide rod and plate 0, in order to provideagainst the coin dropping from between the slide rod and plate. When thecoin is placed within the coin tube, it passes therethrough and fallsbetween the slide rod and plate 0, and when the slide rod is pulledoutward, through the medium of handle B thecoin is held tightly betweenthe pins 1) and inner face of inclined shoulder D. i As thus held theoutward movement of the slide rod carries plate 0, therewith, andlikewise the coin. As

the plate 0, is carried forward, by the move ment ofthe slide rod,thespring arm E,which is attached to guide plate a rides uponinclinedshoulder D until the same has passed the end. thereof, when the samesprings inwardly. If the pressure upon the handle or slide rod bereleased after the spring arm has passed .the inclined shoulder, thepressure of spring C, will force the plate 0, to moveinward,and the,endof spring arm E, to pass within an inclined groove, indicated in dottedlines in Figs. 4, 5 and 10, out within the under face of the inclinedshoulder D. As the end of spring arm travels within the inclined groove,the spring lever isforced outward until the face of shoulder D isremoved from contact.

with periphery of. the retained coin. The coin will then fall frombetween the slide rod and plate G,int0 coin holder E. This holder runsany convenient distance and finally passes out of the casing, as shown,or connects with any suitable discharge device. Should, however, theoutward pressure upon the handle or slide rod be not released when thespring arm has passed the inclined shoulder D but the outward pullcontinued, the smaller end of inclinedshoulder D will enter within theSlot 0, of guide plate (1. and in this manner canselthe spring lever tomove outward until the shoulder D moves from within contact with theretained coin, when the same will drop into coin holder as beforedescribed.

The coin holder is always filled with coin and unless a number of piecesbedischarged therefrom,ashereinafter'morefullydescribed, when a freshone is placed within the machine, it is necessary that the last pieceintroduced be thrown to one side of the coin holder into the receptacle,else the machine would clog. For this purpose the upperportion. of theretaining flanges I cut away, as shown as IE and to the plate (I, thereis secured the downwardly extending hookarm E Now as the plate 0, ismoved forward, the hook arm E throws the top coin from within theholder, that is knocks it toone side and causes itto fall within thecasing. The coin is only thrown out when the holder is filled to aheight equal to the point l,.for until the holder is filled to such aheight no coin will be on a level with the hook arm. This effectuallyprovides against the clogging of the machine.

When the pressure is released from the handle E the resiliency of.spring B serves to draw the slide rod back into position to receiveanother piece of coin.

To the front of partition plate B, I fulcrum the lever F, by. means ofpin f. The upper end of this lever is connected to plate 0, by

the bolt or pin'if, whichworks within the elongated slot F, as the plate0, is moved in or out, and the outward or inward movement of said platenecessarily, correspondingly throws the lever F. To this lever issecured at its upper end, the pawl F the lower end of which is connectedby' means of pin f, to

red H, which rod is movably secured to plate B, by bolt h. The pin fworks with an elongated slot h, m order to permit rod H, to raiseorlower as lever F- is moved in or out.

Upon the axle H, which passes through plate B, is secured sleeve H whichsleeve has secured thereto ratchet wheel I, and disk I, the latter ofwhich is located in front of the ratchet wheel. Thepawl F engages withthe ratchet wheel when the upper end of lever F, is thrown to the rear,as shown inFig. 9, and thus causes rotation of the sleeve H and disk I.However, when lever F, has made its full backstroke, the pawl is movedfrom engagement with the ratchet wheel, due to the raising of rod H,asjshown in Fig. 2,

but the disk will continuento, revolve until stopped by the hereinafterdescribed mechanism; i

To the lower end of lever F, is movably fastened the lever 1 which has anotch 2',

formed in its outer end, into which reduced end '11, of hell crankleverG, fits when the lever 1 has been moved its full distance backward,as shown in Fig. 3, the position of said lever being, when the machineis at rest, that showninFigr2. This lever is provided with an inwardlyprojecting guide. pin g, which rests upon supporting guide piece 9', assaid lever ismoved rearward and prevents the same fromfalling intolocked position with end 'i', of crank lever G, until "ithas moved thefull distance, when pin 9, moves from off guide pieceg',and permits thelever to fall. As the lever moves forward by the inward movement ofplate C, through the medium of the connecting lever F, the free endthereof rides upon the inclined guide piece The periphery of the'disk I,is provided the rotation of the same. J This piston works throughtheguide bracket j, and within air cylinder J and is forced upwardxby meansI20 with a series of deep and shallow indenta of the air within saidcylinder. The discharge from thecoin holder depeudsupon the fact as towhether the rotation of the-disk wheel is stopped by the piston :movinginto locked engagement with a deep or shallow indentation. In order thatthe stoppage of disk ro-.

tation may be gradual, I locate a roller i within the upper end of thepiston, the periphery of which projects beyond the end of the piston.When the lever 1 is moved inward, arm 1?, of crank lever G, is carriedtherewith, the movement of which throws arm 1, of said lever downward,and inasmuch as the end thereof rests upon inwardly projecting pin it,of piston J, the movement thereof causes the piston to descend, as shownin Fig. 9. As the lever 1 travels forward the free end thereof ridesupon inclined guide piece 9 which serves to gradually release the samefrom engagement with the reduced end of arm 4?, of cran-k lever G. WVhenthe lever 1 and crank lever G, have been separated, the crank leveris'given an opposite throw by the upward movement of the piston J, fromwithin the air cylinder.

To the partition plate B, is secured, below crank lever G,- the lever K,the outer end or arm Z0 of which fits between pins Z0 and Z0 whichproject inwardly from the piston J, and as the piston is raised orlowered the arm of the lever K, is carried thereby. As this lever israised or lowered, the feed mechanismis operated in order to control thedischarge of the coin from the coin passage. The feed rod K, is securedto plate B, by means of screw Z, as shown. This rod is constructed ofspring metal and projects upwardly in front of lever arm Z, and isprovided with an inclined inwardly projecting shoulder Z To the upperportion of this rod are secured two pins, m, m, one above the other,which project inwardly therefrom and through openings formed in plate B,into the coin holder E, see Figs. 1 and 8. These pins serve to regulatethe downward feed of the coin, as hereinafter described.

The coin retaining rod L, is pivotally connected to ear n, and the upperend thereof is turned at right angles to the body portion and projectsthrough an opening n, formed in plate B, and into the coin holder. Thedistance from the pins m, m, to inwardly projecting end of retaining rodis say equal to the diameter of the two coins within the holder.Consequently when the retaining rod is withdrawn from within the coinholder, two pieces will make their-escape. The retaining-rod and feedrod work alternately, that is to say, when the retaining rod moves fromwithin the coin holder, the releasing rod pins m, m, project therein,and when the pins'are Withdrawn the end of the retaining rod projectstherein. These rods are operated by lever K. As the arm is, of thislever moves downward, arm Z, is caused to move upward and in itsmovement contacts withinclined shoulder Z and thus forces-spring feedrod K, outward, which withdraws the pins 'm, m, from within the coinholder, consequently permitting the retained coin to move downwardwithin the coin holder until stopped by end of retaining rod. The outerend of arm Z works within an elongated slot 0, cut in retaining rod,which slot terminates in an angular extension, as shown. In case the endof the piston stops within a shallow indentation of disk I, then theuplift of arm Zn, of lever K, will only be sufticient to cause arm Z, ofsaid lever to travel downward such a distance as will cause it to moveoff shoulder Z when the spring releasing rod will move inward so as tocause pins m, m, to extend within the end of coin holder. During thisdown movement the end of arm Z, of lever K, only works within thestraight portion of the elongated slot formed in the retaining rod L.Should, however, the piston engage one of the deep indentations,the riseof arm K, will be much greater, and the downward movement of arm Z,correspondingly so. This extreme downward movement of arm Z, forces theend thereof into the angular portion of the slot 0, which moves theretaining rod outward and takes the end from within the coin-holder. Thecoins being then released will make their escape.

Inorder to assure the movement of lever K, the arm Z, is connected toear n, by means of spring N.

The front of the casing A, has a circular opening formed therein, whichmay be closed by glass. This opening is covered by a dial N, which isdivided into different colored or numbered sections, as shown. numbersmay be made to correspond with the shallow or deep indentations of diskI, and in this manner be employed as an indicator. This dial is boltedor otherwise fastened to The colors or IOO disk I. Consequently as thedisk revolves the dial is carried therewith. The retaining rod is onlyreleased when the piston engages or looks within a deep indentation, butwhen it so locks the operator receives two or more pieces of money, orwhatever may be within the holder, for one placed within the machine.Instead of making use of deep or shallow indentations within therotatable disk, a series of pins or studs may be arranged around thecircular edge thereof, which pins may be of variable lengths, so thatwhen the piston stops at a short one the same will pass thereover, orthe pins may be arranged in two'rows, one a short distance beyond theother. However, I prefer to make employment of the indentations. It willthus be observed that the discharge of coin from my machine is entirelymechanical and is in no manner whatever under the control of theoperator.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure protection in by Letters Patent of the United States, is"

1. In a coin-actuated machine, the coin receiver consisting of a slidingbar, a sliding plate arranged alongside of and parallel with the saidbar, a lever carried by said plate and adaptedto engage the coin,whereby the bar will be connected with the plate and. means forautomatically actuating said lever to release the coin and therebydisconnect the plate from the bar.

2. In a coin actuated machine, the combination with the coin receiver,said receiver consisting of a sliding rod and a spring-actuated slidingplate, of the spring lever working within the sliding plate, said leverbeing pro vided with an inner and outer projecting in clined shoulder,'the spring arm for engaging with one of the inclined shoulders, thecoin holder, and mechanism for controlling the discharge of coin.

3. In a coin controlled machine, the combination with the coin receiver,of the coin holder for receiving the coin as dropped from the receiver,and a device for throwing the coin from the holder when the same isfilled in order to prevent clogging of the machine. 4. In a coincontrolled machine, the combination with the coin tube, of the receiver,said receiver consisting of a spring actuated sliding rod or plate, ofthe coin. holder, a device for dropping the coin from the receiver intothe coin holder, as the receiver is moved forward, the handle foroperating the machine, and suitable mechanism for controlling thedischarge of the coinfrom the coiuholder.

5. In a coin-controlled machine, the combination of a coin receiver, acoin holder, means for dropping the coin into the holder as the receiveris drawn outward, a rotatable indicator, mechanism controlled bythe coin receiver to actuate the indicator, and mechanism actuated bythe coin receiver to stop and lock the said indicator.

6. In a coin controlled machine, the combi nation with the mechanism forreceiving and dropping the coin, of the rotatable disk, the va riablcpins or indentations located within the periphery of said disk, thelocking device for engaging with said disk in order to stop the rotationthereof, the feed regulating and retaining rods for the coin holder, andsuitable mechanism for operating said rods with th movement of thelocking device. 7. Inacoin controlled machine, the combination with themechanism, substantially as described, for receiving and dropping thecoin, of the coin holder, the retaining and the feed regulating rods,the lever for throwing said rods in or out, therotat-able disk, ratchetwheel connected to said disk, the pawl for engaging with the ratchetwheel in order to rotate the disk, a device forinterlocking with saiddisk,

and suitable mechanism-foroperatingthe locking device.

8. In a coin controlled machine, the combination with the rotatabledisk, of mechanism, substantially as described, for operating said disk,the air cylinder, the piston working within said cylinder, said pistonadapted to move into locked engagement with the rotatable disk, aseriesof levers for lowering said piston, the retaining andreleasingrods for the coin holder, and the lever for moving said rods in or out.

9. The combination with the sliding coin receiver and the rotary disk,of a ratchet wheel secured on the shaft of the disk, a pawl pivotallysecured to the coin receiver and adapt it from the disk, and connectionsbetween the said lever and the coin receiver.

11. In a coin controlled machine, the combination of the sliding coinreceiver, the coin holder in which the coin is deposited by thereceiver, the retaining bar projecting into the coin holder and providedwith an angle slot,

afeed baralso projecting into the coin holder and having a projection onits edge, a lever having itsside bearing against said projection and itsand playing in the angle slot of the retaining. bar,and mechanismcontrolled by the coin receiver to vibrate said lever.

12. In a coin-controlled machine, the combination with the mechanism forreceiving and dropping the coin, of a rotatable disk, variable pins orindentations located. within the periphery of said disk, alocking deviceto engage said disk and stopthe rotation thereof, and suitable mechanismfor controlling the discharge of the coins.

In testimony whereof Iaffix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JAMES A. LIGHTHIPE.

Witnesses:

N. A. ACKER, LEE D. CRAIG.

